Definitely recommended only for die-hard fans of dusty old movies, this is one you've almost definitely never seen. Long out of circulation in any form, this very tame 1940s 'haunted house' type thriller is unique because it features an all-black cast. Otherwise, it is badly dated and so mild that it's a real snore throughout most of the short runtime.
The plot concerns two newlyweds who find themselves visited on their wedding night by a mysterious woman, a certain Doctor Jackson. Doctor Jackson is a severe old woman, and we see her roughing up her attorney and revealing herself to be stubborn and willful. However, she is also touched that the newlyweds have found her important enough to invite to their wedding, and she reveals that she was once romantically linked with the bride's father. Unbeknownst to anybody, Dr. Jackson has drawn up a will that leaves all of her earthly possessions, including her spooky old house, to our protagonists.
Also a secret is the fact that she has a weird ape-man living in her basement, which can only be accessed through a hidden door. The ape-man is summoned with an ominous gong the old lady has, and it appears to be mostly docile. However, Dr. Jackson is experimenting with some kind of potion, which she foolishly leaves sitting out in the basement where the ape-man lives. It drinks the potion and goes homicidally crazy, choking her to death. By wild coincidence, our newlyweds happen to visit the woman at almost the same moment and find her dead, no sign of the ape man. When the police discover that they were the beneficiaries of the old woman's will, they suspect the husband of murder. Cleared of all charges, the husband returns with his bride to move into the house they've just inherited--unaware that the ape man is still lurking in the basement. A few more attacks happen until the inevitable bride-snatching occurs after our lonely ape-man ventures out of the cellar.
The movie was filmed on a few cheap sets, with most of the action wisely taking place in the old dark house, but it's not that memorable of a set. It's poorly established, and we don't get a look at the creepy exterior until the conclusion, when it goes up in flames. The acting is passable, at best, with some comic relief coming from a bumbling detective. The makeup on the ape man is ludicrous, and there is no real explanation for what the creature is or why the doctor has it in her basement. We are to gather she brought it back from one of her excursions to Africa, but that's about all we know. Oh, and it likes cold cut sandwiches, too.
Worth a look for the curious, just don't expect too much. Watch for a couple of lively musical numbers near the beginning of the film, performed by the Four Toppers (not to be confused with the similarly-named Four Tops).
